A Xmax Candy Tradition

You can't eat from the the bottom layer until the top layer is finished.

Happy Holidays!

A 32 Basketball Game with Hip-Hop artist Mike Page

This week my nephew and I went to my local Miami basketball court and got into a street basketball game of 32 (thirty-two) with Hip-Hop artist Mike Page from Elgin, Illinois. I have played many pickup games on these courts but you rarely see a player with the quickness, shooting and understanding of the game of basketball as Mike Page. It was also my first basketball game of Thirty-two (32), which is a variation to the Twenty-one basketball game (21) or "hustle" (see Wikipedia). Instead of shooting free throws after a 2 or 3 point shot which slows the game down, you keep the ball. I understand it is the game of choice in Chicago, D-Wade or Dwyane Wade's hometown. This is "Wade County" so I'm surprised that I've never heard of this game and was not able to find it on Urban Dictionary, Wikipedia or any basketball website.

BTW, Mike won both games we played although his VP of Operations for PAGEMUSIC, Dominique Jones can certainly put up the threes and my nephew, who Mike nicknamed "G-shot" also put up some points. As far as my game, I need to hit the gym more frequently, especially when playing a game of Thirty-two.

Mike Page is an independent artist and is known for his hit single, "Show Yo Swag" and has opened for such artists as Lil Wayne and T-Pain. I understand Mike Page is working on a new album, VOICE OF THE PEOPLE which is scheduled to be released in January, 2009.


Mike Page My Space
http://www.myspace.com/mikepagemusic


Mike Page Website
http://www.mikepagemusic.com/


Mike Page on Rapcity

Miami Sourdough 2.0

Thanksgiving - The Day After

Thanks for sending us home with some turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes
and gravey. This morning I will thankful for the very best breskfast
of 2008.

Thamks againg for hosting Thanksgiving at your home this year.

Health Web Search, Cyberchondria, See Your Doctor

According to an article in the New York Times today by John Markoff, a Microsoft study suggests that self-diagnosis by search engine frequently leads Web searchers to conclude the worst about what ails them. The term cyberchondria emerged in 2000 - definition: the practice of leaping to dire conclusions while researching health matters online. 2 percent of all Web queries are health-related. The study was by Eric Horvitz a computer scientist with a medical degree and employee at Microsoft and Ryen W. White, a specialist in information retrieval technology. 500 Microsoft employees participated in a portion of the study.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/technology/internet/25symptoms.html?ref=health

If you perform a health web search and think you might suffer from "Cyberchondria", just make sure you see your doctor before you think about treatment.

Source: NY Times

Out of the Oven

Miami Sourdough French Bread

Pre-Thanksgiving Warmup

With the 70 degree cool weather in Miami, a loaf of Miami Sourdough
French Bread. I'll be putting it in the oven later this morning. The
starter has been fermenting on my balcony for the past week.

Koda Farms Kokuho Rose - the Best Sushi Rice in the World

I was recently in California and purchased a 20lb bag of Koda Farms Kokuho Rose Rice, the best sushi rice in the world. See my review of Koda Farms at http://martinog.yelp.com/

Yelp.com Review

Am I Dreaming Aromatherapy by Dr Sharon

Here's a hot new aromatherapy product, from Dr. Sharon who is the chiropractor, acupuncturist and massage therapist to some of the top music superstars, actors and models in Hollywood and New York. Her patients include Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow, Christy Turlington, REM, Perl Jam and Foo Fights.

If you are looking for an aroma therapy product used by Dr. Sharon that help keeps these celebrities at their peak performance despite their high stress and demanding schedules, you should check out her website.

Am I Dreaming Aromatherapy website



Each kit is $48.00 and includes:

10 ml Aromatherapy Oil
Aromatherapy Candle
Instruction Booklet
AROMATIN® Fragrance Dispenser

The Best Costco Deal - Kirland Spring Water

One of the best deals at Costco is the Kirkland Mountain Spring Water at $4.39 for 35 bottles. That's $ 12.5 cents 16.9 ounce per bottle or $4.39 for 591.5 ounces which is $ .0074 cents per bottle. I don't think you can find a better deal anywhere else. I am posting this to my health blog to remind everyone of the importance in drinking lots of water each day.

My Birthday Cards

I caught a Cold - Airplane Travel

I've been living in South Florida for 7 years and one thing I can say about the South Beach or SOBE living, I rarely get a cold. I personally think it's the weather since we experience very little climate and temperature change. I have been in Northern California the last several weekends and I forgot how it gets very hot in the afternoons and how cool it gets in the evenings after that Pacific Ocean fog rolls in. During the evenings, I usually found myself in shorts and very, very cold. I think this probably contributed to the cold I picked up rather than the airplane travel.

In any regard, I called my doctor yesterday and he prescribed a Z-pack. I also will be taking Mucinex-D which I think helps clear up my sinuses, helps deter a long-lasting cough and ultimately speeds up recovery. I am also religious about using my Neti Pot for my allegergies and am doing everything to stay off the daily dose of Claritin-D that I did for 10 years.

It's not much fun being sick and my W has made plans to travel again this weekend. I already feel better much better now that I have my meds and a recovery plan!

Cheers and Thank You!

Cheers to everyone who attended Jack's Memorial Service! It was great
"connecting" with Jack's family, friends and loved ones.

Jack Morison - Mill Valley, CA

Mill Valley, CA - On August 13, 2008, Jack Morison of Mill Valley passed away. Jack was a worldwide whitewater rafting pioneer, entrepreneur, father and my friend.

Jack's Memorial Service will be held in Mill Valley, CA at the Outdoor Art Club on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 2 p.m.

My Friend Jack Morison

My friend Jack Morison lost his battle with cancer today. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Jack's Memorial Service will be held in Mill Valley, CA at the Outdoor Art Club on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 2 p.m. If you plan to attend, please email: 1) your name; 2) email address; 3) how many in your party to martinog at gmail.com.

Spris - Pizza Carbonara

 

The Doctor Lowered My Crestor medication

My doctor lowered my Crestor medication. I went out to celebrate with a Macho Taco from the Taco Shop. I'm now taking it every other day only.

Dinner at Lime

My Colonoscopy - Day 2

6:45 a.m. -- arrived at the hospital and signed in.

7:00 a.m. -- I was called by the nurse and escorted into the room. My W kept the book I was reading as well as my other belonging...phone, picture id.

7:15 a.m. -- Got dressed in the standard hospital gown. I was able to wear my glasses. The nurse started the IV, two drops of my blood hit the floor. Another nurse took my temperature, pulse and blood pressure.

8:30 a.m. -- I am still waiting and another patient arrived before me. I should have gone to the hospital at 6:30 a.m. so I could be first. I also should have kept my book so I could read it.

8:45 a.m. -- The nurse who would administer the anesthesia arrived. She wheeled me into the pre-operating room.

9:00 a.m. -- The doctor finally arrived. He made some small talk while the nurse gave me the demerol and another med.

10:45 a.m. -- I awoke to the face of my W. She was patiently waiting for me to wake up. I received a glass of cranberry juice and was discharged.

11:00 a.m. -- I arrived home, I feel great. I'm not tired. My D made me breakfast.

My Colonoscopy - Day 1

One Week Before: No Aspirin, Advis, Motrin, Ibruprofen, Aleve, Iron, Vioxx, Celebrex or Aspirin products. I am not using any coumadin, warfarin, plavix or any other blood thinnners. Tylenol is okay.

7:00 a.m. -- One day before the procedure: clear liquids for the entire day. Clear liquids include: white cranberry and apple juice, 7 up, ginger-ale, tea, clear chicken broth without noodles and plain jello.

I started the day with a cup of tea instead of my home brewed latte. I took my blood pressure med and cholesteral drugs with a bottle of water.

10:00 a.m. -- I had another cup of hot tea.

3:00 p.m. -- I took the two 5mg Dulcolax tablets (over the counter). My W bought a box of 50 but I only needed two. After taking these tablets, I felt fine so I went downtairs to the gym.

4:50 p.m. -- Per the doctor's instructions we purchased a bottle of MiraLAX. They didn't have a 255 gram bottle, so we purchased a 17.9 oz or 5120 gram bottle. Today, I mixed 17 cap fulls into a 64 ounce bottle of lime Gatorade. I used a glass pitcher to shake and mix it and then re-poured most of the contents into the original bottle.

5:00 p.m. -- I drank the first 8oz glass of Gatorade/MiraLax. It tasted fine. Here the instructions from here:

"Drink an 8oz glass every 10-15 minutes until the solution is gone"

5:30 p.m. -- I feel like I'm back in my younger days trying to finish a 6 pack of talls.

5:55 p.m. -- It now feels like I am on vacation in Mexico.

6:30 p.m. -- It still feels like I am on vacation. I'm just finishing up the 8oz glasses.

10 p.m. -- It still feels like I am on vacation in Mexico but I have the chills, even after taking a hot shower. I understand food warms the body, so there is probably nothing I can do.

11:59 p.m. -- I should no longer eat or drink any fluids but that's not an issue because I am asleep.

1:00 a.m. -- Got up to go to the bathroom.

Crestor - I guess my doctor made the right choice!

With all the recent news about the benefit of cholesterol lowering statin drugs, I stumbled across this article today. My doctor has had me taking Crestor since Lipitor caused some side effects. Despite this news, I am still taking both Crestor and Zetia and am waiting to hear from my doctor about the Zetia. When I talked to him a few months ago, he told me to continue taking it.

-- snip --
Astra Drug Tipped as $8-9 Billion Cholesterol WinnerReuters Health - Apr. 01, 2008
By Ben Hirschler

LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc's Crestor is emerging as a potential big winner in the fiercely competitive anti-cholesterol market, with two brokerages on Tuesday hiking sales forecasts for the drug to $8-9 billion.
Shares in the Anglo-Swedish group, which have been hit recently by fears of generic competition to its top medicines, jumped for a second day, adding 5.5 percent by 1200 GMT, the biggest daily gain in more than four months.
Japan's Shionogi & Co Ltd, which originally developed Crestor, soared more than 9 percent.
JPMorgan said positive results from a clinical ...

Caregiver Info

As our parents get older, many of us must increase our knowledge of being a caregiver to them. Someone suggested a book, "Share the Care", but if anyone has any good resources for me, I would appreciate it. In the next several months, this will be an area that I will be researching.

The local city run Senior Center provided me with an email with some resources already. This is a good start.

Medication Side Effects?

Before a trip to the west coast last week, I misplaced my gold wedding ring. Since the plane was leaving and my W was reminding me we needed to leave for the airport, I did not have time to look for it. It was bothering me during my entire trip.

Last night I looked everywhere for it. My supportive W even helped me look under the bed in case it fell off the night stand. Finally, I gave up after my W convinced me to stop looking for it. I then went to the bathroom, picked up the tube of toothpaste and brushed my teeth. After that, I looked down on the counter and saw my gold wedding ring. It was under the tube of toothpaste. I must have checked the bathroom counter 100+ times.

I don't think this incident qualifies as a side effect from the meds I am taking but it is a reminder that I need to be more careful with things that really matter to me, especially when taking meds.

Crestor and Zetia

Here are some links on the use of Crestor and Zetia.

WorstPills.org

http://www.spacedoc.net/board/index.php

http://www.spacedoc.net/why_ENHANCE_failed.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atheroma

Zetia and Crestor - My doctor say to Continue to Take it

With the Vytorin study (Zetia and Zocor) in the news this week, I called my doctor today to ask him if I should continue to take Zetia and Crestor which has been successful in lowering my cholesterol level.

From reading some of these articles, I think the critical question are:

1. Will taking Crestor and Zetia cause me to have faster plaque buildup in my arteries.
2. Is my doctor monitoring my plaque in my arteries?

Keep taking Zetia, Fort Meyers Cardiologist Says

Drug Doesn't Slow Artery Clogs, Study Says

A Low Cholesterol Breakfast

I've always enjoyed eating an traditional American sausage, eggs, bacon and hash browns breakfast. My W has banned me from going to the infamous diner up the street (Maurice Gibb's of the BeeJees, favorite place for breakfast, he had his own booth). After a recent trip to Costco and the grocery store, here is my new low cholesterol American breakfast.

If for whatever reason the doctor says I need to stop taking Zetia and I need to wait for a new cholesterol medication to be developed, I guess I'll be eating these types of breakfasts for the rest of my life.

Zetia and Crestor -- Should I stop taking Zetia?

For the past several yeas, I've been taking Zetia and Crestor for my high cholesterol. I tried Lipitor for a brief period and there were some issues with my liver as well as perceived muscle pain. So far, the combination of Crestor and Zetia has significantly lowered my cholesterol, a test results I do not believe I could have achieved through exercise and diet with my family history. That said, with the recent news about Zetia, I need to call my doctor today to find out if I should continue taking it.

SinuCleanse - Nose Bidet - Neti Pot

Here is the nose bidet or Neti Pot that I purchased at the local drugstore Walgreens. It was on sale for less than $10.00 and it came with a 30-day supply of saline salt.

Neti Pot - Nose Bidet Update

For the past week, I have been using my neti pot at least twice daily for a runny nose I've had as well as allergies for January in Miami, Florida. To be honest, it's not much different than the saline therapy that my Ear Nose and Throat doctor recommended last year after my deviated septum surgery.

My W saw my leaning over the sink with my neti pot and told me, "that pot has to go, I'm going to throw it out". However, this morning she was reading from the NYTimes.com site and stumbled on this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/fashion/03skin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin She couldn't believe it and I'm going to assume that the email I received with this link was her form of apology. I'm now allowed to keep my neti pot.

I absolutely love my Neti Pot today. I believe it does a better job at clearing my nose up that the daily Claritan or Claritan-D I was taking.